How did US servicemembers pass the time in the field between assignments?

Description:

This book is the journal of company commander (then Captain) Todd S. Brown who led an army company in Iraq from April 2003 through March 2004. From the editor’s introduction:

There is a lot that Todd Brown’s journal is not. It is not an official account, nor does it purport to be. It is not consistent. Todd experiments with his writing style–he was a civil engineering major at the US Military Academy–and bounces around with respect to structure, organization, and delivery. He also bounces through mood swings reflecting good days and bad days. Reading a paragraph in isolation might cause one to believe that the war was winnable or hopeless depending on the exigencies of the moment rather than upon some overarching theory of campaign progression. Sometimes he speaks casually of breathtaking courage, and other times he seems almost whiny.

Captain Brown’s account is supplemented by editor supplied background material at the beginning of each monthly chapter. The work has a glossary and an index as well as five appendices, all of which will be helpful to the writer of stories set in this period:

A. Command and Control at the Brigade and Below

B. The Samarra Paper

C. Civil Samarra

D. Countermortar Operations around the LSA

E. Life Aboard the Bradley

Some of the relations with the Iraqis might be helpful in occupation stories set on other worlds.

Five first person accounts of service in Vietnam from members of the US Coast Guard. Includes information on rescues and offensive operations. Non-Vietnam information is also contained in these interviews. May be handy for character backstory.

What sort of background might the captain of a 1960s USCG cutter have?

What operational sections did a Coast Guard Cutter have during Vietnam?

What sort of nicknames did enlisted men get on a cutter?

What did Guantanamo Bay look like in the late 1960s?

What did replenishment-at-sea look like?

What did the “crossing the equator” ceremonies look like?

Description:

From the introduction: “This is a story of a ship, and the men who serve aboard her. A remembrance of one year in the lives of the officers and crew of the US Coast Guard Cutter in Viet Nam.”

The book opens with a brief history of the ship, then has biographies of the captain and executive officer who served on the cutter during the year being documented. The biographies include state of origin, education and previous assignments. This section is followed by photographs of officers with notations of their assignments on the Campbell. Following photographs of the officers come descriptions of the ship’s different departments, including photos of enlisted and sometimes some personal detail about them.

The description of ship’s departments is followed by a large number of photographs broken up into sections, but minimal annotation and virtually no identification.

While the book definitely suffers from the lack of an index, table of contents or careful annotations of photos, writers ought to be able to construct a reasonable “life aboard” story from this cruisebook. At 102 pages, this is short enough to be browsable.

What were characteristics of servicemembers found guilty of fragging their commanders?

How widespread was marijuana use in Vietnam? How did the military legal system fight it?

Description:

A mostly chronological history of the institutions of military law and how they functioned in Vietnam. A number of courtmartial trials, including some for the murder of noncombatants are described. Chapter subheadings are descriptive and there is an index. Some of the subchapters that might be helpful to writers of stories set in the Vietnam War are:

Were 28 year olds less likely to graduate from flight school than younger students?

When did the Army Air Forces start pilot training for African Americans?

What were the three aptitude tests pilot cadets had to pass before being accepted into training prior to 1942?

What was an example of a reading comprehension question required by the Aviation Cadet Qualifying Examination?

Description:

The PDF file for this work is mostly blank up until page 13, where you will find the table of contents. The first part of the book covers World War I and the interwar years. Material pertaining to World War II will be mostly found in two chapters:

The narrative portion of the book ends with biographical sketches of the Sergeants Major of Women Marines and of the Directors of Women Marines. The work as a whole concludes with several appendices and an index. The appendices of most interest to writers include:

Occupational fields for women officers

Occupational fields for enlisted women

Women Marine units, 1946-1977

Women Marines who served in Vietnam, 1967-1973

If you are writing about female characters of this period who are Marines, think of this book as a character bible. What your character wore, what ranks they could attain and what military specialties they could work in are all here. If you’re writing science fiction about worlds where women are just starting to come into their own, this book might help you describe that world’s military service.